Huntsville, AL

Living in Madison and Huntsville Alabama the commute to work is a concern to all especially for those associated with BRAC, NASA, NASA contractors and the many high tech companies that support them. What is a bit of a standing joke is that you can go anywhere in Madison or Huntsville and be at your destination in twenty-five minutes. It has always been a little surprising to me that this is a fairly accurate time frame...unless of course you are trying to get to the same place everyone else is during rush hour.

Madison and Huntsville Alabama are experiencing stronger than average growth because of the economy here, lower housing costs, taxes and high employment. The city is doing everything it can to accommodate the rapid growth.

The Redstone Arsenal is a major employer in Madison County. Communities to the east such as Bailey Cove, Jones Valley and Hampton Cove are serviced by Memorial Parkway/Highway 231/53. Madison, Harvest and other areas north of the Redstone Arsenal are service by I-565, Research Park Blvd. /Rideout Rd. and Jordan/Patton Rd. To the west Zierdt and Martin Rd. are traveled routes to the Arsenal.

Cummings Research Park is the second largest research park in the United States. Located just north of the Redstone Arsenal is also easily accessed by I-565 on the south, HWY 72 (University) to the north and Research Park Blvd. cuts through the middle of the park. Housing is so convenient to the Cummings and Redstone that's difficult to say what community is the easiest commute.

If business takes you to D.C. or requires frequent flight time, the Huntsville International Airport, located adjacent to I-565 is a very convenient airport. Ease of arrival and departures makes this airport a real gem. I've done my share travel through Chicago's O'Hare and New York's airports and by comparison Huntsville's airport is a dream!

If you are moving to the Madison or Huntsville area and need help finding your way around or locating the perfect home for your family, call my office: (256) 230-5933 or try my website for contact information and to view currently listed homes.

If you are traveling to the Northern Virginia area I would recommend you calling on Steve and Jan Bachman for your real estate needs: Email: steve@homesbybachman.com

Website: http://www.HomesByBachman.com

If your travels take you to Washington Frank Kliewer and Nina Cross are Realtors you should know:

Email: Frank@FranksList.com

Website: http://FranksList.com

Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Status

With the BRAC move to Huntsville forecasted to bring 4,700 government jobs to Redstone Arsenal through 2011, where do we stand on the progress of this move? Huntsville job opportunites are looking up!

Joe Ritch chairman of the Tennessee Valley BRAC Committee stated in a recent Huntsville Times interview that, ‘All the new construction is on schedule," and "About 2,400 of the nearly 4,700 Army and other federal agency positions moving to Redstone Arsenal have already been filled."

Another interesting note from the interview was that 56% of the positions filled came from residents outside of the Tennessee Valley. Thus this relocation migration to the Huntsville area is well underway and will continue through the end of 2011. The Army Materiel Command (AMC) is actively recruiting to fill these positions and you can visit their career page for more information.

Recent Developments

In addition to the ongoing economic growth spurred by the Huntsville BRAC move, on January 7th, 2010 the US Army announced its decision to relocate the Headquarters of the Army Contracting Command (ACC) from Fort Belvoir, VA to Huntsville as well.

This move will bring 234 additional government civilian jobs to Redstone Arsenal along with supplementary military personnel. The good news about this announcement is that these jobs are in addition to the BRAC move already underway and it is also expected to be completed by the end of 2011.

Also announced this week was Boeing's selection of local Science Engineering Services to upgrade the Army's Apache helicopters which according to the Huntsville Times article will create an additional 70 new local jobs.

Relocation Package

We have had the privilege of assisting several families with their relocation, due to BRAC activity. We certainly look forward to helping others. If you are exploring a move to the Huntsville area and beginning your Huntsville Real Estate research from afar, you definitely want to take advantage of our website resources and relocation package. Our previous relocating buyers loved our search options! Why not get your relocation account setup today and best of all its completely free and without obligation.

Huntsville's real estate market remains stable to improving in the face of national housing bubble burst.

Taking into account seasonal variation the Huntsville market grew steadily throughout 2009. December 2009's median selling price was $169,900, up nearly 3 percent from December 2008. 400 homes were sold last December an increase of over 34 percent from December 2008. The average days on market for homes sold in December was 88 days an reduction of 27 days compared to 115 days in December 2008.

Home sales and prices in the Huntsville Real estate market remained relatively steady with signs of improvement last year. Homes for sale in Huntsville. Sales of larger more expensive homes were slower causing the median sales price to slip a bit. The median home sale in 2009 was $168,317, compared with $172,733 in 2008 and $169,275 in 2007. The slipping of sales prices of more upscale homes was cause by a combination of overbuilding in anticipation of the influx of BRAC positions, more stringent home mortgage underweighting and of course the slowing economy.

When we accepted a new job in Huntsville at Raytheon, and started to search for homes for sale in Huntsville Alabama the relocation company assigned us a realtor . That realtor either didn't understand the local Huntsville real estate market or didn't want to invest the time to assist us in our move from Tucson. We found Philip online at the www.Huntsville-Homes.com website. Philip was just what we were looking for. He told us about areas of Huntsville to consider and started sending us properties that would meet our needs while staying in our price range. Since we didn't have much time, he previewed houses for us, sent additional photos and gave us his impression of the homes he viewed. When we made our house hunting trip we had narrowed our search down to just a few houses. Philip searched the Huntsville MLS and helped us determine what to offer for the house and negotiated what we feel was an exceptional purchase. He helped us set up home inspections and informed us about the risk of dangerous radon levels in Huntsville and specifically in the area where the home we picked to buy is located.

After the inspections Philip helped us negotiate to have several repair items corrected. We were pressed for time when we flew back into Huntsville for closing and Philip helped us have our utilities turned on and to get to closing. We were blessed to have found philip and plan on calling him we start to look for investment homes for sale in Huntsville once we get settled in.

~ Jason and Avery